Internship

Students in the Business Leadership Program complete one internship as a graduation requirement. These internships expose them to real world situations. Most students fulfill this requirement early in their college careers at Puget Sound, and many complete more than one internship for additional experience. In order to fulfill their internship requirement, BLP students must submit the internship recognition form to the Program's Director for pre-approval.

Seeking an internship requires the same kind of preparation as any job search. There are several Puget Sound resources that provide a great place to start your search for an internship placement. Remember to start your search early; for more information go to CES.

Here are a few testimonies about BLP internship experiences from summer 2014.

Amber ('17):Coming from a small town, finding internships in my area can be arduous, especially since I could not find a single internship application online. However, I secured my internship at Asante Foundation's Southern Oregon World of Wine event by simply picking up the phone and contacting numerous human resource departments to see which companies may be interested in taking on a summer intern. During my time there, I learned more about the professional world than ever before. I got the most out of my internship in three ways. First, by getting to know the people who worked in and around my office on a level past the professional one, which made coming to work more fun and comfortable. Second, by offering to complete tasks outside of the realm of my internship, which allowed me to learn more about the company and make connections with people in different departments. Third, by taking advantage of every networking opportunity. The majority of the time I worked with prominent people in the community and used that to my advantage by making connections with them and ensuring that when I represented myself the best I could.

Maya ('15):I spent my 2014 summer in Tacoma and interned at the Target in Gig Harbor. The program was training me to be an executive and ensured that I spent time in each of the five main executive positions: Sales floor, HR, Logistics (which meant 4am mornings to unload the trucks), Guest Service, and Asset Protection. By the end of the 10 week internship I was working Lead on Duty shifts where I was in charge of making sure the store ran smoothly. I learned how to deal with angry customers, confused vendors, as well as homeless camping out in the bathrooms. Target's Internship Program is especially appealing because the company is looking to hire trained interns after graduation.

Kimberly ('16)I was a Sales Intern for Living Doll Los Angeles this past summer. Overall, I realized that a cohesive office community and good spirit have a huge positive impact on work experience, and that learning by doing is the best way to jump in and succeed in a new position. I was unsure about the retail industry, but it is great to use the internship process as trial and error to decide better what you like.

Here are some companies where BLP students have interned:

Artists Repertory Theatre

AT&T

Bank of Hawaii

Barclays Bank PLC

Boeing

Breckenridge Recreation Center

Ciber, Inc.

Circa Corporation

College Pro Painting Franchise Managers

Expeditors

Fox Network

Goal Run Limited

Hitachi

InstrumentalSavings.com

Intel

K2 Skis

Merrill Lynch

Metro Parks Tacoma

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney

Northwest Mutual

Outrigger Enterprises

Rubypearl Solutions

Russell Investments

Sasquatch Crossfit

Tacoma Art Museum

Target

The Lodge at Sandpoint

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